Inhaler



(NoModel.)

J. HOOD 8v S. H. REYNOLDS.

INHALER.

'No.famso. I Patentede'b-15,1887.

@M2M/meow@ 4 if gvv UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JOHN HOOD AND STEPHEN H. EEYNOLDS, OE BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

INHALER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 357,930, dated February 15, 1887.

Application filed November 24, 1886. Serial No'. 219,808. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN HOOD and STE- PHEN H. REYNOLDS, citizens ol' the United States, residing at the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in lInhaling Apparatus; and we do deelare the following to be a full, clear, and eX- act description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereomwhich form a partof this specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in that classof inhalcrs employed by dentists and surgeons in the administration of ether or other easily-vaporized anaesthetics to patients.

Heretofore there has been difficulty in aecommodating the inhalers in general use to the position of the patient, as an inhaler fitted for use by a patient sitting in a chair could be,A with diiiiculty or not at all made to accommodate the needs of one iying down, and, owing to the absence of proper valves to prevent such action, the air and vapor drawn into the lungs were expired through the sponge or other fibrous matter to hold the antesthetic fluid, thus causing a waste of the latter as well as allowinga part of the deoxygenized air to be again drawn into the lungs with the next inspiration.

The object of this invention is therefore to construct an inhaling apparatus that shall obviate these defects by preventing expiration from the lungs through the same,and, further, to allow of its ready accommodation to whatever position the patient may occupy.

Theinvention therefore consists in the construction of a holder for the anzesthetic fluid provided with avalve to prevent the passage of air or vapor through it except in one direction, and which holde'r is adapted to retainits normal position under all the varying positions in which the patient may be placed, as will be hereinafter fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate like parts in the different figures, Figure l is a vertical section through the' holder on the line I I of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan with a portion of the cap removed to show the arrangement of the interior of said holder. Eig. 3 shows the method of using the apparatus, the patient being in a' recumbent posit-ion.

The holder A is preferably of spherical form as being most convenient. One part of this sphere, A, is made of less diameter than the other, so as to leave a shoulder, a, all around, which shoulder forms a seat for the projecting lianges a of the hemispherical cover B. To retain this cover in any desired position upon the part A,a screw, b, is attached to the part A of theholder and passes through the cover, being provided outside the same with a thumbnu t, b', which being turned up against the cover retains it in any desired relation to the holder A, for a purposehereinafter described.

The holder A is provided with a large tube, O, the inner end of which is partially attached to the inside of the holder and the remainder cut away to leave an opening, as c, from the tube to the interior of said holder. The opposite end of said tube C extends a short distance outside of the holder, and is provided with a screw-cap, nO,which is placed in position when the instrument is not in use or it is desired to stop the iow of air through the apparatus. Within the tube C is placed the valve D,opening downward,and retained against the valveseat by a light spiral spring, c', acting upon a guide-stein, d, attached to the valve. This spring c has .just sufficient strength to hold the valve up to its seat, but aliows the valve to open and admit air to the holder whenever a slight vacuum is formed beneath it by the inspiration of the patient, but closes and prevents the outward Apassage of air or vapor through the apparatus while the lungs are being emptied by an expiration, it being understood that the cap C is oif from the tube C when the instrument is in use. rlhe upper part of the hemisphere A, forming a portion of the holder, is cut away, as at E, forming an opening, through which the sponge or other brous material, E, is introduced to the interiorof the holder. It may also serve for the introduction of the ether or other anzesthetio; or the latter may be poured in through the tube O.

Attached to one side of the hemispherical cover B is the internally-screW-threaded tube B', to which the tube c, conveying the vapor ICO from the holder to the hood covering the face of the patient, or such other device as may be substituted for said hood, is attached.

It Will be observed that the cover B may be turned in any position with relation to the holder desired, thus allowing the holder to be retained in a vertical position While the exittube B is turned to one side or downward, as may be found most convenient.

In administering anzesthetics with this apparatus it is rst adjusted to the position of the patient. The cap C is then removed and the iiuid used poured into the tube C, from which it ows through the opening c at the bottom oi' said tube into the interior of the holder saturating the sponge F. The hood or other analogous device being then properly applied to the face of the patient,When he iniiates his lungs by au inspiration, air will be drawn through the tube C, pass through the sponge,and become impregnated with the anzesthetio vapor, passing thence out 'of the holder through the tubes B and e to the lungs of the patient. When he exhales the air from his lungs, the valve D closes and prevents the exhalation from passing through the holder. It therefore escapes at the edges of the hood or from such other opening as may be provided for it.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, the following:

1. In an inhaling apparatus, the holder A, provided With a circumferential shoulder, a, in combination With the cover B and its retaining-screw, arranged to allow the cover to be turnedto any angle with relation to the holder, asset forth.

JOHN HOOD. STEPHEN H. REYNOLDS.

Witnesses: p I?. J. OAsEY, J. G. FLAGG. 

